Sweet potato & maple galette

Servings: 8
Although its name would indicate that ‘sweet potato’ is a ‘sweet’ ingredient, it is most often used in savoury applications. Here, its natural sweetness is balanced beautifully with salty feta in a savoury free-form pie, while its dessertiness is put to full effect in a sweet galette with maple and cinnamon – plus a very Americana touch of toasted marshmallows. Woah! You might even like to halve the filling recipes and make one of each for your next party. But be warned: the crowds will swarm!
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Ingredients 

Galette Crust

  • 3 cups 450 g wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tsp salt flakes
  • 250 g 9 oz cultured butter chopped
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 200 ml 7 fl oz chilled water

Sweet potato & maple

  • 300 g 3½ oz sweet potato, scrubbed thinly sliced lengthways
  • ½ cup 125 ml maple syrup
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1½ cups 150 g almond meal
  • ¼ cup 55 g raw sugar plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1 egg separated
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • ¼ cup 25 g natural flaked almonds
  • 2 cups 180 g marshmallows cut in half with scissors

Instructions 

  • For the galette crust, place the flour and salt flakes in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the vinegar and chilled water, bringing the mixture together with your hands to form a crumbly dough. Divide into two equal portions, then shape each one into a disc. Enclose in beeswax wrap or plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or until firm.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line two trays with baking paper, leaving some overhang.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out each pastry disc to form a 40 cm (16 inch) circle. Use a rolling pin to hang the pastry over and transfer to the baking trays. Chill in the fridge until needed, or even overnight.
  • Place the sweet potato slices in a bowl, add the maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg and toss well to combine and coat.
  • In another bowl, combine the almond meal, sugar, egg white and vanilla bean paste. Spread the almond paste over the pastry discs, leaving a 5 cm (2 inch) edge.
  • Remove the sweet potato pieces from the maple syrup mixture, reserving the remaining syrup in the bowl, and lay them over the almond base. Add the egg yolk to the remaining maple syrup, mix to combine, then brush over the pastry, pouring any remaining over the sweet potato centre. Scatter the entire galette with the almonds, and sprinkle with extra sugar.
  • Place in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (315°F). Bake for 1 hour, or until the pastry base moves easily on the tray, checking halfway through and covering the galette with foil if it darkens too much.
  • Remove from the oven and arrange the marshmallow halves over the top. Turn the oven up to 220°C (425°F) and bake for a final 5 minutes or so.
  • Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes

Tip
If you’re only making one galette at once, you can freeze one of the uncooked pastry discs for up to 4 weeks; just remember to first wrap it well. You’ll only need half the quantity of your chosen topping.
Shortcut
If you’ve made a batch of galette pastry and stashed a disc in the freezer, thaw it on the bench and add any left-over roasted veg plus feta on top. Bake until the pastry is golden.
Recipe from In Praise of Veg (Murdoch Books)

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